Infinity
by daisyjohnsons
Summary: When Tide Sterling and her mother move across the world to help fight the newly-returned Voldemort alongside the Order of the Phoenix, she never expects the things that lie in store for her there, namely a kitten-obsessed professor, a father who's not quite the hero she thought and a boy by the name of Neville Longbottom.
1. infinity

The first time Voldemort rose to power, Rhiannon and Jonas Sterling fought him alongside the original Order of the Phoenix. However, when he lost his power trying to kill Harry Potter, frightening truths came to light about the Sterling family. Rhiannon thought it best that their young daughter Delilah - affectionally nicknamed Tide - be far away in case the Dark Lord ever returned. Her daughter received her education at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, instead of Hogwarts, the school that both her parents had attended. Tide grew up hearing stories of her father, a man she'd never known but had always wanted to, and Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. Tide had long ago accepted that she would never meet either of them. However, when the Order of the Phoenix began to gather, Tide and her mother packed up their entire lives and moved across the world to join them in their fight against Lord Voldemort. Tide finally got to meet Harry, but she also got more than she bargained for, namely a crazed, kitten-obsessed professor, a father who wasn't quite the hero she expected, and a boy by the name of Neville Longbottom.


	2. fourteen years ago

Rhiannon Sterling knew it was over. She should have felt glad, relieved even, but no such feeling came over her. She was just scared of what was to come. In Rhiannon's arms, her daughter, Delilah let out a cry, as if she sensed what was coming.

"Hush, darling," Rhiannon whispered, brushing tendrils of stray hair from the baby's face, "It's okay. We're going to fix things." It was going to be difficult, this much Rhiannon knew. Her family's honour had already been dragged through the dirt. Her daughter - barely a year old - had had her life ruined. That was never going to change.

But if there was one person - only one - who might be able to protect her daughter, Rhiannon knew that it was Albus Dumbledore.

She breathed in. The stone gargoyle in front of her seemed even more intimidating now than it had back when she was in school. She'd only been inside the Headmaster's office four times before. Not one of them had mattered as much as this one was going to.

"Carpe Diem!" Rhiannon said, to which the gargoyle began to turn, revealing a stone staircase. Rhiannon hurried up it, clutching Delilah to her chest. She was not sure how she had the energy to climb the stairs. After all that had happened in the past day, Rhiannon should have been exhausted, yet she could not bring herself to rest, not when her daughters well-being was in the balance.

As she reached the top of the stairs Rhiannon knocked on the heavy wooden door. Please open, Rhiannon thought, hoping and praying that Dumbledore would open the door for her. Much to her pleasure, it swung open to reveal an elderly wizard with a long beard and turquoise robes.

"Ah, Miss Sterling." Dumbledore started. "Come in, come in." Rhiannon stepped inside and Dumbledore shut the door behind her. "What brings you and your lovely daughter here tonight?"

"You know damn well why I'm here," Rhiannon shot back, before her voice softened, "I need your help."

"I cannot help your husband. I think you know that." Rhiannon had known this, and yet Dumbledore's words hurt more than she had expected.

"Please, Albus. He's a good man but he -"

"He made more than just a mistake." Dumbledore's tone was angrier, darker than she had thought the old wizard was capable of. "Good people have died."

"He never meant - that wasn't his fault -" Rhiannon grasped for words. "James and Lily weren't his fault, you know I loved them like siblings. They were Delilah's godparents."

Dumbledore turned to face her, his eyes cold behind his half-moon spectacles. "Your husband was not like the rest of the Death Eaters, I'll give him that, but he still worked alongside the Dark Lord."

"The Dark Lord is dead!"

"No," Dumbledore whispered, "I know you don't believe that." Rhiannon looked down at her daughter, comfortable sleeping nestled in her arms with a leather jacket wrapped around her shoulders like a blanket. She didn't speak for a long time.

"Harry Potter saved us," She whispered, "I know that you've protected him."

"That boy is special."

"They're going to come looking for Delilah and me." Rhiannon's voice broke, tears spilling down her cheeks. "The Ministry doesn't care that Jonas betrayed Voldemort. All they care about is that mark on his left arm. And when they throw him in Azkaban - and they will - the Death Eaters who escaped will come looking for us. They want to punish someone, they want someone to hurt, they don't give a damn who it is."

Dumbledore sighed. "You can't protect your daughter forever, just as I cannot control the fate of Harry Potter. Voldemort will return, you know. He will come back. You need to decide where your allegiance will lie when that happens."

Rhiannon stared up at him, her defiant, dark eyes shining with unshed tears. "If you won't help me, then there is no point in me staying." She stepped away towards the door but Dumbledore spoke again, making her stop in her tracks.

"The Potters are dead, Rhiannon, among countless others. The Longbottoms have been tortured into near-insanity. Your daughter will grow up without a father but that will not make her special in any way. Your husband was a good man, that much is true, but he confused his morals. Be careful that Delilah does not take the same path that so many have fallen prey to."

Rhiannon stared at him for a second. "Am I coward to flee then?"

"No," Dumbledore answered, and Rhiannon knew that he was telling the truth. "No, for you are taking your daughter with you. You are not facing a dark wizard, but you are just a brave as Lily herself. She too risked everything for her child."

A tear streaked its way down Rhiannon's cheek. "Do you think they'll kill Jonas?"

Dumbledore shook his head briskly. "They are not that merciful." His answer was short, but Rhiannon did not know what he meant. Death was not merciful, especially death by the hands of the Ministry of Magic.

"I can simply promise you this," he began, "As long as Harry Potter lives, your daughter will be safe." Rhiannon could simply nod. She hated to let her daughters security rest on another baby. What had happened at Godric's Hollow was simply a miracle. Miracles offered no protection. Maybe she had been wrong about Albus Dumbledore after all. Maybe he was just a stark-mad old man.

But even if he was entirely bonkers Albus was the best chance Delilah had.

"Thank you, Albus." Rhiannon turned the handle of the door and tugged it open. This time, the old wizard did not try to stop her.

As Rhiannon Sterling vanished into the darkness, carrying her daughter, Dumbledore couldn't bring himself to smile. These times were the darkest the wizarding world had ever seen. It would be a miracle if anyone's heart survived intact.

* * *

"Where the hell is Sterling?" Lucius Malfoy's voice cut through the silence, sharp and demanding. "Where the hell is that traitorous filth?"

Not one of the Death Eaters surrounding him dared make a sound. Malfoy paced back and forth across the floor, glaring into every face as he went, daring them to contradict him, to put a single toe out of line. Perhaps it was wise that none of them even exhaled.

"Don't you numbskulls understand?" Malfoy screamed. One of the men nearest him recoiled in shock. "The Dark Lord is gone, defeated by a child! Soon the Ministry will round us all up and find us nice cozy cells in Azkaban. And Sterling, the traitor, is not paying for his actions. He deserves to suffer for what he's done." Malfoy's outburst came to a sudden stop and he stepped back breathing hard. Still, no one said anything.

The blonde man sighed, slumping down onto the ground, his head in his hands. They - he - had never though there would be consequences like this. The Dark Lord was supposed to rule. He was powerful, and yet he had been vanquished by a mere baby. And now they were all in danger. Malfoy hated to think what would happen to his wife and his only son. He would have to come up with a lie, and a damn good one at that, that would save his sorry skin from the Dementors.

Malfoy thought for a second. With ties like his at the Ministry, there was barely even a mere chance that he'd go to prison. The traitor wouldn't be so lucky, however. While Sterling would undoubtedly go to Azkaban, where he'd be practically untouchable by the remaining Death Eaters, his family would not be safe. Yes, without Sterling to protect them, his poor, poor wife would be left all alone.

A cruel grin spread across Malfoy's face. He was going to tear the Sterling family apart piece by piece if it was the last thing he ever did.

* * *

 **author's note**

 _i hope you like this prologue! i know it may be a little confusing, but throughout the story you'll learn more and more about what tide's father did. (and yes, he's a death eater) also, at this point, everyone calls her delilah because tide is just a nickname she gets later, so i hope that clears any questions up. as always, feedback is really appreciated and i hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

 _xoxo, jodie_


	3. no cause for celebration

Fireworks exploded across the sky, like flowers blooming. Tide Sterling watched as the dark sky was lit up by bursts of flashing, colourful light. She wished she could have captured this moment forever. It was her last at home, before she and her mother, Rhiannon, left for England.

Tide glanced back towards their house. It looked rather lonely just sitting there, practically abandoned. She knew that their bags were sitting in the front hall, packed with the majority of the things they had ever owned. Just like that, her entire life had been shoved in a bag. She knew she should have been happy, but she wasn't even sure why they were leaving. When her mother got the letter, she'd grown rather pale, and had dropped the teacup she'd been carrying. Tide had tried to acquire the letter, but her mother kept it far away.

She was sure it was important, she just wished she knew what it said. The fireworks were a nice touch, though, she had to admit. It was quite the goodbye party. Even some No-Majs had come to celebrate. They simply though the Sterlings were moving away. Deep down, Tide knew it was more than that. Her mother wouldn't rush away from their life just because of a silly letter unless it had something to do with magic.

Tide stared back up at the sky, watching more bright lights tango across the night sky. She'd miss this place. This was where she'd gotten her first broomstick, where she'd had her first kiss, where she'd grown up. But most of all, she'd miss Ilvermorny. That was truly her home. That's where her true friends were, not at this Hogwarts place she'd be going to once they moved.

In that moment, Tide felt an angry bubble of rage rising in her chest. She didn't want to leave. Did her mother really think that whatever had been in that letter was more important than her own daughter? Tide stepped away from the rest of the so-called-party. She didn't see a cause for celebration. All she saw was a bunch of people signing her own death warrant.

Before she even realized it, Tide found herself at the door to their house. She didn't notice how she'd come before this moment. She pushed open the door and it swung open with a sickening creak. There, in the entrance, sat two backpacks. They were relatively small, but her mother had put multiple charms on them, making them extendable. Tide hurried over to her own bag and practically tore it open. From inside, she tugged out a faded and worn leather jacket. It had been her father's. In a way, it was almost like a baby blanket for Tide. She took it out whenever she needed comfort.

Unfortunately, by grabbing the jacket, she'd upturned many of the items in the pack, and it was now in a state of disarray. Tide felt suddenly angry at herself for being so careless. After all, hadn't she spent four hours that morning packing her entire life into that bag? They could have done it with magic in a mere matter of seconds, but Rhiannon had insisted they do it the "old-fashioned" way. And there wasn't anything Tide could do about it, because at the age of fifteen she wasn't allowed to use magic outside Ilvermorny's walls.

Tide took a seat on the stairs. She didn't want to go back out there, and smile, and laugh and pretend like it wasn't breaking her heart to have to leave the people she'd practically grown up with behind. More than anything, she wanted to write a letter to her pen pal, Primrose. They'd started writing letters to each other through school when they were both third-years, Tide at Ilvermorny and Rosie at Hogwarts. Rosie was the one person Tide had been completely honest with, more so even than her mother.

But this time, she couldn't say a thing to Rosie. She didn't want to burden her, not with this. Last year something had happened at Hogwarts, someone had died, and his death had hit Rosie pretty hard. Tide knew that they'd been best friends, yet she still felt resentful towards Rosie when her letters stopped coming. She'd done some digging, found out about this boy, Cedric Diggory. But his story was much overshadowed by the fact that he had known Harry Potter.

Tide pushed herself up, unable to sit still. All she wanted was answers. Like why they were moving, why this was all so urgent and why her mother couldn't just talk to her. Growing up without a father had been hard enough, but lately Tide had begun to feel like she was losing her mother too.

Whatever comfort Tide had hoped to find in the house was gone. The photographs of her parents, a smiling couple, that had once lined the mantle were gone. Even the photo of her mother and Lily Potter had been packed away. Tide had loved looking at that photo in particular. Both of them looked so happy, so carefree. Neither of them had had a clue of the fate that would befall the Potters. It was rather sad, actually.

"Tide?" Tide jumped at the sound of her mother's voice. She turned to see Rhiannon in the doorway, which she must have accidentally left open. "Why aren't you outside?"

Tide sighed. "I just wanted another look at the house before we leave forever." She couldn't keep the anger out of her voice. Rhiannon obviously noticed.

"Tide, we'll come back once it's over, okay?"

"Once what's over, Mom? Because you haven't told me a darn thing and I'm sick at tired of it." Tide took a deep breath, trying - and failing - to regain her composure. "I just want to know why we're leaving and where we're going."

Rhiannon's expression softened. "I just need you to trust me. It'll make sense when we get there. I'm really not supposed to say much more." Tide was far from satisfied with that answer but she had a feeling it was the best she was going to get. Besides, they'd Apparate soon enough, and then she'd get all the answers she wanted.

Tide took a seat again and this time her mother joined her. Tide leaned her head on Rhiannon's shoulder. Her mother didn't pull away like she had expected her to. Rhiannon smiled slightly to herself. These were the sort of moments that made everything she had endured worth it. And they were also the sort of moments that reminded her that no matter what lay in store, they had each other. They sat there for a long time, neither of them moving or making a single sound.

After a while, the party outside began to die down. Rhiannon thought this was the perfect time to leave. They'd said goodbye already to everyone who truly mattered. She stood.

"It's time to go," Rhiannon said quietly, to which Tide's face lit up with excitement, "Believe me, Apparition is not pleasant." Truthfully, Tide had never Apparated before. From what others had told her, it wasn't nice, but that did nothing to subdue her excitement.

Both of them pulled on their backpacks. Rhiannon held out her arm. Hand shaking, Tide grasped her mother's arm. Everything went dark, and Tide felt something pushing at her from every direction. She couldn't draw breath or even blink as they whirled through the darkness, Tide's head pounding from the force weighing down on her. And then it was over.

They were standing on solid ground again, yet Tide stumbled back. She felt as though every organ in her body had been yanked out, jumbled around, and then stuffed back inside of her. It was the worst feeling in the entire galaxy. Tide didn't have a doubt about that.

Coughing, Tide said, "Let's never do that again."

Once the stars faded from her vision, she took in their surroundings. They were standing in an alleyway of some sort. The buildings around them were streaked with soot, and looked as though they had been that way for a while. Tide was about to ask where they were when a man came hobbling into the alley from the street. He was the strangest thing she had ever seen.

He walked supported by a walking stick and wore the distinct clothing of a wizard trying to blend in with No-Majs. But that wasn't even the oddest part. One of his eyes had been replaced by what appeared to be a mechanical one. It had been trained on Rhiannon for a long while, but once it flicked towards Tide, she felt a chill crawl down her spine. It was as though the eye could see right through her. He walked up to them, and looked them both up and down.

"How was the trip?" The man said in a gruff, deep voice.

"The way it always is," Rhiannon replied, "Apparition is hardly a picnic." The man's lips curled into a tight smile, though to Tide it looked more like a sneer.

"This your daughter?" He asked, gesturing towards her. Rhiannon nodded. Tide noted the way he declined to shake her hand. This man was definitely the strangest wizard she had ever met.

Rhiannon jumped in, as if she could read her daughter's mind, "This is Mad-Eye Moody." Mad-Eye Moody? Evidently, his eye wasn't the weird thing about him. Moody gave a nod of acknowledgement, before turning and walking away. Rhiannon followed him, and Tide took this as a clue that she should too. Moody led them out into a square of sorts, surrounded by tall, No-Maj houses. Moody stopped them in front of a building with the number eleven painted on its side. Next to it, however, was number thirteen.

Tide rubbed her eyes quickly, but when she opened them once again the numbers were still the way they had been before. She opened her mouth to ask about it but Moody simply thrust a piece of paper into her hand. She looked down at it, reading.

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve Grimmuald Place, London.

Tide looked up towards her mother but Rhiannon did not like like she was about to reveal anything about what was going on. "There is no number twelve." Tide said, very matter of factly. "So either this is a massive joke or there's something you're not telling me."

Rhiannon turned to look at her. "Just think about what was on that slip of paper." Tide rolled her eyes, but nonetheless tried to envision it, all the while crumpling the note in her hand. And the second that she thought about it, something incredible began to happen. Almost like a balloon inflating, from between numbers eleven and thirteen and house began to appear, pushing the ones to the side of it out of the way. The No-Majs inside didn't even seem to notice.

Moody pushed her forwards towards the door, and Tide grudgingly did what he wanted. When they reached the door, Moody tapped it once with his wand. A noise like a lock opening sounded and then the creaking door swung open. No one moved for a long second.

"Well? What're you waiting for?" Moody demanded. "Go inside."

Tide stepped inside. Everything was covered in grime, and looked about three million years old. It also looked like it had been hit with a very large dose of black magic. What exactly were they doing here?

Moody turned to look at her, his fake eye unblinking, staring right through her, "Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Delilah."

 **author's note**

 _so there you have it! tide's gonna meet the rest of the order next chapter, and harry will come a few chapters after that. i'm actually pretty proud of all the writing i got done today and i will hopefully be able to keep updating this story so frequently. hope you enjoyed!_

 _xoxo, jodie_


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